


I'll Only Hurt You If You Let Me

by beautifulmadness13



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Disabled Character, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26010523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautifulmadness13/pseuds/beautifulmadness13
Summary: In a world where everyone can hear the voice of their soulmate by the age of fifteen, sixteen year old Josie is beginning to think that maybe she was born without one since it's been nothing but radio silence for her.Cut to new girl Penelope Park showing up at Salvatore and maybe Josie isn't destined to be as alone as she originally thought.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson & Penelope Park, Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman & Lizzie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 34
Kudos: 149





	I'll Only Hurt You If You Let Me

**Author's Note:**

> heyyy so I'm pretty sure this fandom is beyond dead but I don't care, I'm gonna try to revive it anyway.  
> A soulmate fic, wow so I've never written one of these before and I wanted to try and do it a bit differently. I hope everything makes sense and that it's easy enough to follow. I also hope that you all like the way that I've decided to write the characters.  
> That's all I'm gonna say cuz the fic itself explains everything you need to know about the world I've created so enjoy!

When you’re a child and your mother tells you stories about soulmates, true love and happily ever afters, the expectations you set for yourself about finding that one person who is destined just for you, can become almost unrealistic. Especially when you live in a world with a population of over seven billion. Maybe that’s why the fates decided to make it a little easier on everyone by giving them a rather large clue as to who that special person is. 

By the age of five Josette Saltzman already considers herself to be quite the expert on all things to do with this subject. She knows that anytime between now and when she’s fifteen she will be given her very own link to her other half. It’s not as good as a name or a physical location but being able to hear each other’s voices has aided almost every soulmate in finding each other. With the chances of meeting her own at nearly 98 percent, there’s no reason for Josie to ever worry about ending up alone. Although not impossible, never finding one’s soulmate is practically unheard of. The tether connecting the pair allows for an open connection between them, an open line of communication where if one party speaks out loud then the other can hear their voice as clearly as if they were in the same room even if they’re actually miles and miles apart.

The story of how her mother met her own soulmate is one that Josie and her twin sister Lizzie have demanded to hear every night before bed since they were old enough to speak. Seeing how in love Caroline and Stephan are and have always been, is enough to leave the young preschooler often daydreaming about meeting her own soulmate at even the most inopportune times.

Like right now for example, she’s sitting on the carpet of her classroom with Lizzie and multiple other children as their teacher Ms. Tig attempts to teach them a simple growing spell to aid in blooming the seeds they recently planted in the windowsill. Ms. Tig, or Emma as she so kindly encourages her students to address her, holds a small pot in her lap. The children all know that inside of the pot is the seed of a hydrangea. Emma recites a few words and with the added flourish of her hand Josie and her classmates watch with enraptured interest as a stem begins to sprout from beneath the soft dirt. Within moments a baby hydrangea is occupying the previously empty space.

All at once the room comes alive with noise as the kids excitedly rush to pick a plant of their own to practice the new spell on, except for Josie who’s large brown eyes haven’t moved from the small flower that her teacher had sat on the desk.

Josie stands from the carpet and walks a few steps closing the distance between her and the plant before very gently reaching out to touch one of the petals. It’s incredibly smooth between her fingers and the color looks even brighter when it’s against her pale skin. A beautiful neon green that causes her mind to wander to thoughts of her soulmate. She wonders what their favorite color is and if they would have the same appreciation for green that she does. The color of nature, earth, and life itself, yes this is definitely Josie’s favorite. But if she had to choose between the different shades, because of course there are so many, she thinks a deep forest green would be the one for her.

She continues to marvel at the flower, her small fingers still delicately playing with the petals when a sudden scream pierces through her skull. 

It’s so loud and frankly terrifying that Josie accidentally crushes the flower within her grip before letting it go and wrapping her hands over her ears to try and block out the sound.

_“Daddy!”_

_“Daddy slow down please!”_

The voice is young, like a child’s, and they sound scared, more scared than Josie’s ever been in her entire life. It’s like for a moment she can feel everything this phantom scream is feeling, her heart pounds, her eyes begin to water and Josie would give everything to make it stop.

“Josie!”

“Jo!?”

“Josie what’s wrong? Sweetheart open your eyes!”

She can hear the distant voices of Ms. Tig, Lizzie, and the other kids but Josie can’t focus on anything other than the screams. She has no idea who or what she’s hearing but she wishes more than anything that she could take away their fear. They last for what seems like hours to the little girl and she worries briefly that they may never stop. 

Then they do.

The silence of her mind is almost as shocking as the voice was and when Josie finally opens her eyes she is curled into a ball on the floor, everyone standing around her with a shared expression of concern.

She’s still shaking when Lizzie flings her arms around her in a tight hug that results in Josie getting a mouthful of blond hair. But she doesn’t mind, it’s comforting to be held after an experience like that and the brunette’s body sags into her sister’s with exhaustion.

“Josie are you okay? What happened?”

Emma kneels beside both girls looking Josie over very carefully and taking note of the tear tracks running down the child’s cheeks as well as the haunted stare in her usually bright eyes.

Josie takes a breath and sniffles when Lizzie finally pulls back but keeps a tight grip on her hand, her twin wondering the same thing as their teacher.

“Th-there was a v-voice.”

“A voice?”

The older woman rubs her pupil’s back softly and waits patiently for Josie to nod in response. 

“A girl’s voice I think. She was s-so scared.”

Emma thinks about it for a moment. She’d read stories before about a very rare event that can occur between soulmates if the connection is strong enough. Usually to communicate with each other soulmates have to purposefully try to make contact but in those few incidences one of them had an experience so emotionally charged that when they yelled the other person could hear them even though they hadn’t been trying to reach out.

Although Josie was still quite young she fell within the correct age bracket for connecting with her soulmate for the first time. And based on what Emma had just witnessed she was willing to bet that this rare occurrence is what Josie had just gone through.

Josie looked up at her expectantly, clearly waiting for her teacher to offer her an explanation. It seemed like everyone else was waiting too because the classroom was incredibly quiet.

“Um well, Josie I think that there’s a good chance the voice you heard actually belonged to your soulmate.”

All of the children stare up at Emma in shock, no one else has been able to connect with their soulmate yet, so this was huge. Almost immediately Josie was being bombarded by questions from Lizzie and the other boys and girls.

“What was it like?”

“Do you know her name?”

“Can you do it again?”

“When will I find my soulmate?”

But Josie wasn’t hearing any of them, instead her thoughts were focused on one thing and one thing only:

If that really was her soulmate that she’d heard, were they okay?

  
  


~~~7 years later~~~

  
  


This week had royally sucked. 

From the pop quiz that their math teacher had sprung on them, to the cafeteria forgetting that Josie is a vegetarian and finally Alyssa Chang deciding to change the twin’s skin tones into a nice shade of purple, nothing seemed to be going right.

And as if all of that wasn’t bad enough, Josie had been making her way to the library for some last-minute studying when Lizzie had appeared by her side out of nowhere, smiling harder than Josie thought possible and vibrating with excited energy.

“Jo, it happened!”

The blond squealed and gripped onto Josie’s arm tightly, her eyes practically gleaming under the hallway lights.

Josie gently pried her sister’s hand off of her and rubbed the now sore spot carefully. Seeing Lizzie so unusually happy had caught her off guard but the smile on her twin’s face was contagious and Josie could feel as her own lips began to replicate the emotion and she smiled back softly.

“What happened?”

Lizzie rolled her eyes dramatically at the brunette’s question as if Josie should already somehow know the answer. But even that small amount of annoyance couldn’t rid the siphoner of her giddy mood.

“I found her Josie, my soulmate!”

“Oh.”

Josie’s cheerful expression faltered slightly but she pretended that it hadn’t. It’s not that she wasn’t happy for her sister, of course she was but the topic of soulmates wasn’t one she had any strong desire to talk about as of late. Ever since that day in class when her head had been ambushed by the petrified screams of a little girl, Josie’s mind had been silent. So silent in fact that sometimes she found herself wondering if that really had been her soulmate that she’d heard years ago. 

Lizzie was staring at her expectantly and Josie realized that she was waiting for a real reaction and the usual questions that followed after someone announced that they had found their other half.

“That’s awesome Liz, I’m so happy for you.”

Josie pulled her sister in for a tight hug and tried to push her own thoughts concerning soulmates to the side.

“So who’s the lucky girl?”

“That’s the best part,”

Lizzie pulled away from the embrace and if it were possible her grin seemed to widen even further.

“It’s Hope, Jo! Hope Mikaelson is my soulmate!”

The blond did a little twirl as she said the name, not paying any attention to the way that Josie could only stare at her in shock.

If she thought her week had been bad before then clearly she had been unprepared for this bombshell that life had decided to throw her way.

Hope Mikaelson had been the twin’s best friend for the last three years and her family was one of Salvatore schools biggest funders. She also happened to be the only one of her species, a tribrid, and an heir to the original vampire bloodline. To say she was special would be an understatement. But the twins hadn’t become friends with her because of her legacy, they liked Hope for who she was as a person. She’s a leader, fiercely loyal to those she loves and she has a huge heart, though she tries to hide it. 

The fact that she’s absolutely stunning definitely adds to the appeal and maybe part of the reason why Josie wasn’t as overjoyed as her sister was because she’d been harbouring a secret crush on Hope for months.

Of course it being a secret meant that Lizzie had no idea how Josie really felt for their friend or that her declaration might be causing her twin some pain.

When Lizzie stopped spinning and let out a small giggle Josie was reminded that this moment was not about her or her feelings. This was about her sister, the girl she loved with every bit of her heart and who Josie had watched struggle with her mental health for most of their childhood so far. She deserved nothing more than to be happy and if Hope was going to help her achieve that then Josie needed to be supportive regardless of how much it might hurt her.

“I really am happy for you Lizzie, no one deserves this more than you. I’m sure Hope is going to be an amazing soulmate.”

And she meant that. Because even though Josie was still a little jealous and heartbroken she couldn’t help but also feel proud of her twin for managing to find her person.

~

If later that night Lizzie takes a little longer than usual coming back to their dorm after spending the evening with Hope, Josie doesn’t point it out. Instead she uses her extra alone time trying to reach out to the little girl she still so vividly remembers hearing that day in kindergarten.

“Um, so I don’t know if you can hear me or if you’re even there but I thought maybe I could give this another try anyway. I’m Josie and I would really like to learn your name too.”

The silence that follows is consuming and she’s disappointed but not surprised when her attempts go unanswered. It’s been seven years and never once has Josie gotten a response but if ever there was a time for her soulmate to make themselves known then that moment would have been it. Because Josie has never felt more alone than she does lying in bed, silently crying over her lost crush and her sister getting the one thing that she has always wanted.

  
  


~~~4 years later~~~

  
  


Soulmates are stupid and whoever invented the notion is an idiot who must get off on other people suffering. If Josie could meet that person then she would tell them as much because she is sick and tired of watching everyone else around her apparently completely in love while she is destined to die miserable and alone.

Okay so maybe that’s a little dramatic but in her opinion she’s allowed to be dramatic now. It’s been a week since her sixteenth birthday, a whole damn week and she’s heard nothing. Either her soulmate is a raging bitch who can’t be bothered with actually talking to Josie when she tries to reach out **or** they just don’t exit.  
  


Both options suck but at this point Josie really isn’t sure what else to think. She was supposed to have met them by now, her soulmate. If the general age range was anything to go by then she should have at least spoken to them for the first time while she was still fifteen. She no longer considered the screams from kindergarten to be anything other than her imagination playing a cruel trick on her because if they had really belonged to the person she was meant to be with then why hadn’t they said anything to her since?

Her mother had told her to be patient, that her time would come, and Josie had tried to be, really she had. But seeing how happy most of her classmates were and how close Lizzie and Hope had become over the last few years had driven Josie to her breaking point.

If her soulmate was out there then clearly they wanted nothing to do with her and if she just didn't have one then it didn’t matter anyway because she was over the whole idea. It was fairytale magic that just wasn’t meant to be a part of her life unfortunately. Which is why when Rafael Waithe asked her to go out on a date with him she’d agreed without any hesitation.

The wolf boy had yet to meet his soulmate as well and it wasn’t uncommon for teenagers to date other people before they found their other half. She knew he was essentially just using her to bide time until that day came for him but she didn’t care.

They had fun together. He’d taken her out for dinner and a movie and they’d laughed and talked, just enjoying each other’s company. There were even a few moments when she got so caught up in what they were doing that she managed to forget that he wasn’t actually her person.

“I like hanging out with you.”

“Yea, I like hanging out with you too Josie.”

And when the night came to a close and he’d leaned in for a kiss Josie chose to ignore the way his lips just didn’t feel quite right against her own. Because it wasn’t perfect, it couldn’t be, but it was good enough. And considering Josie had already decided that she was just one of those rare tragic cases without a soulmate, good enough is all she would probably ever get.

  
  


~~~Present Day~~~

  
  


“Lizzie, I had to give the tour last time, it’s your turn. And I already have plans anyway.”

Josie had been standing in her dorm trying to leave for the last five minutes but Lizzie was blocking her exit. The blond was attempting to push her chore of having to give a school tour to a new student onto Josie so that she could go out with her girlfriend. But Josie really wasn’t in the mood today. She’d already told Pedro and some other first graders that she would help them learn a few smaller spells today and she knew they were looking forward to it.

“Come on Jo we both know that reading to preschoolers doesn’t count as plans. Besides showing the new kid around won't take long. Just give her the short version of where everything is and you’ll still have plenty of time to teach magic to the little gremlins.”

Lizzie was all but pouting at this point and Josie couldn’t help but sigh at her sister’s persistence. She knew that this was the first time that Hope had gotten the afternoon off from training in weeks and that they were both looking forward to it. Their dad had kind of sprung this tour on them last minute so they hadn’t had time to plan around it. 

If she was quick then maybe she would still be able to meet the kids in the garden after...

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

Josie was annoyed but she felt most of it melt away when Lizzie wrapped her in a tight hug and kissed her cheek.

“Ugh Josie you are the best sister ever! Thank you and I promise to do the rest of the tours for the next month.”

The siphoner rolled her eyes but smiled at her twin’s excitement. Even though she’d had to make a small sacrifice it was worth it to see her sister happy.

“Yea okay, now go kiss your girlfriend and tell her that she’s lucky I’m so nice.”

“Oh I definitely will.”

Lizzie smirked and Josie faked a gag before shooing the blond out of the room they shared. Lizzie practically skipped towards Hope’s dorm while Josie went in the opposite direction towards the front of the school.

“Thank you again Jo! Seriously.”

“Uhuh, I love you too Liz.”

Josie shook her head and watched as her sister disappeared down the hall. Lizzie and Hope’s relationship was stronger than ever and their happiness really could be contagious at times. Josie doesn’t think that there have ever been two people more obviously meant for each other. And even though she’d basically given up on her own soulmate, she was still glad that her sister had found hers.

Things had been a little easier since Josie had decided to stop reaching out. She wasn’t constantly hoping and waiting for someone who might not exist anymore and that had taken a giant weight off of her shoulders. Sure there was still a twinge of envy and longing every time she saw Hope and Lizzie or really any soulmates together but she figured that would probably always be there. A desire for what could have been. 

Since her date with Raf she’d seen a few other people as well, nothing serious but the casual dating seemed to help a bit and temporarily filled the hole that had settled in her heart. It never lasted of course but then nothing other than the real thing would.

It was okay though, she was okay. She had to be, because the last thing she wanted was for anyone to start pitying her. Being alone was bad enough but having other people know how depressed she was as a result of that loneliness would only make it worse.

  
  


Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind and plastering on her signature Josette Saltzman smile she was surprised when she reached the entrance and saw a girl her own age standing with her back turned while Emma spoke to her. Josie really didn’t know anything about the new student other than that she was a girl, her father had been in a rush this morning and hadn’t bothered to spare any details. Josie had just assumed that she would be younger, most of the new students were.

“Josie, thank you for coming. I was hoping that you would be the one to give our newest Stallion a tour.”

Emma caught her eye from over the new girl’s shoulder and smiled as she approached. Josie wasn’t sure why she would word her greeting like that, why did it matter if it was her instead of Lizzie who had shown up?

“Of course Miss. Tig, I’m happy to do it.”

The new girl turned around then and any questions that Josie may have had flew from her mind. 

She was gorgeous. Her skin was a beautiful olive shade and she offered Josie a sweet smile that caused the brunette’s breath to falter. Her shoulder length wavy black hair reflected the light in a way that made it shimmer and Josie found herself wondering if it was as silky as it looked. But what caught the siphoner’s attention the most were her eyes, they were a striking forest green, much like the colour Josie had claimed as her favourite when she was a child.

Josie was a little lost for words and Emma seemed to pick up on that because she was suddenly pushing the two girls a bit closer together before gesturing towards the brunette.

“Penelope this is Josie, she is one of Salvatore’s top students and the daughter of your new headmaster.”

Penelope gave a small wave in greeting and Josie could feel her cheeks heating up as she blushed. What the hell was it about this girl that already had her losing control of her emotions and acting like a prepubescent boy.

“Josie, this is Penelope Park. She’s a witch like you so I’m hoping that you’ll be able to help her get adjusted to her new class schedule since it will be very similar to your own.”

“Yes definitely I can do that.”

Her answer came out faster than she would have liked and Penelope must have noticed that she was more than a little flustered because she sent a smirk in Josie’s direction that almost sent her into cardiac arrest. Her body was betraying her and Josie was not okay with it.

She was more than ready to get the tour started and finished so that she could hide herself away from the girl who she was clearly already developing butterflies for. 

Josie tore her gaze away from Penelope and after noticing that the ravenette’s suitcases had yet to be brought to her room she decided they could start with that first. It would give her a chance to calm down and pull it together enough to give the poor girl a proper tour that didn’t consist of Josie just blatantly staring.

“Okay Penelope, if you want to follow me I can show you where the dorms are first then after you're settled I’ll take you around the school, if that’s alright with you? I don’t know how much of the grounds you may have already seen but don’t worry I’ll make sure to cover everything just in case.”

Grabbing one of the larger bags, Josie turned expecting Penelope to start following her down the hall. She only stopped moving when she felt something touch her wrist. Penelope was holding onto her gently in a way that clearly told Josie that she needed her to pause.

Josie looked at her questioningly and tried not to marvel at how soft the girl's skin was against her own.

Emma stepped in then and placed a hand on Penelope’s shoulder.

“I apologize Penelope, that was my fault. Josie there is one other thing I need to mention before you go.”

The look that Emma was giving her told Josie that whatever it was that she needed to hear was pretty important, maybe even a little sensitive and Josie wondered if this was why Emma had been happy that it was her who had come instead of her twin.

“Penelope can’t talk. She’s mute so she uses sign language to communicate. You will have to look at her when you ask a question otherwise she won’t be able to respond.”

Josie's eyes widened momentarily and she glanced at Penelope as if asking for confirmation. The green-eyed witch simply smiled and gave a subtle nod then raised her hands into the air between them. Josie assumed that Penelope was about to sign something to her and hoped that Emma was more fluent in ASL than she was. 

_It's really nice to meet you Josie. Thank you for the tour and I would love to see my dorm first._

Her movements were quick and fluid, almost elegant in a way. But far too fast for Josie to decipher. Luckily Emma was more than capable of translating for her, not that Josie was paying much attention anyway, she’d already lost herself in the shorter girl’s smile for the second time in the last five minutes.

Her face was heating up again and she realized that they had been standing in silence for longer than necessary waiting for her to respond.

"It's n-no problem at all, really."

  
  


Well this had certainly been an unexpected turn of events.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you thought, this fic will be relatively short so there's only 2 more parts. The next chapter will be from Penelope’s pov and we'll get to learn how life has been for her the last 10 years.
> 
> don't forget to comment/kudos :)  
> twitter: @posiewaves


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